Will To Live
by WickedSong
Summary: Spoilers for the end of the game. Zidane's survival from an unlikely perspective. One shot.


**Will To Live**

**Written by WickedSong**

**Disclaimer : I do not own Final Fantasy IX, unfortunately.**

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><p>Death did not care who it took, Death was an entity that traversed across the world, taking souls of those who had departed in order to allow the living to continue on with their lives – for only the living could live while Death continued to take those who had passed on.<p>

There were no exceptions in Death's mind as there was simply no one strong enough to fight him when he came for them. When someone died, they died. No one was afforded a second chance at life, not the most common criminal and not the most generous person in the world. They were all one and the same in the opinion of Death, their souls all worth the same in ensuring the continuing of life.

Yet, Death was perplexed to come across two souls – not ones of a human nature but one in particular with the the feelings of a human nonetheless. The Iifa Tree was dying and these two beings were dying within it as well. One was already dead, having sustained injuries beyond the collapse of the tree while the other was alive, clinging to that life just barely. This was the boy who was the source of his confusion. He was unconscious and Death hovered over him having already taken the soul of the one who was already dead and just waiting for this boy to cross over.

It was proving to be a lengthy process, with the blonde boy murmuring the word 'dagger' in his state while also saying something about a 'promise.' He kept humming, at intervals, a curious tune – a light melody which Death could feel the boy had some attachment to. It was with this that the boy began to move, ever just slightly, crawling at a snails' pace.

Death almost laughed cruelly at this vain attempt. The injuries were too severe that even with the proper medical attention the boy would not live. Death did not take his soul yet, however. It did not matter how long it took; every soul came eventually when they were this close to the inevitable. Nothing could save him.

The melody which he was now humming was growing louder and coming out more incessantly, as the boy continued crawling, finally reaching the one who was already dead, muttering "Dammit," as loudly as he could, his voice weak and fading. With a last look at the other man, the boy slowly and reluctantly turned around, almost crying out in pain at his injuries but continuing on regardless. Death looked on him with no pity and no sympathy for his plight; he was a fool for only making this process, which didn't have to be this hard, difficult.

It seemed as if he would fight Death until the very end of his life. It was not uncommon. Death had dealt with many; those who would come willingly and those who would very reluctantly leave their lives and those they loved behind.

"Have...to...get...home."

The boy collapsed, a result of his foolish trying. Death sighed contently and wandered over to him, checking to see if he had finally given up but no, this boy was determined, fighting for life because he had something worth living for – _someone_ or more so many people, many people who depended on his soul, his existence.

Death had come across this as well, of course he had but never, never had he been repelled by someone this close to dying. This boy, though, hadn't given up, rising slowly but surely to his knees, groaning in the obvious pain but showing that he had somewhere to be, with the intention to prove that he wasn't going to die this way, that he couldn't die yet.

And all the while this song grew louder, coming to a great crescendo, only the boy wasn't humming it any more as a source of comfort. It was in his mind, blocking everything else out, a tune also surrounded by images, images of a girl, a girl singing the song, this song which he had dubbed 'theirs.' Followed by her images there were others of battles, fighting alongside a small black mage, a small girl who Death identified as a summoner due to the horn on her head, a knight clad in rusty armour, a dragoon knight, a Qu and a red-haired human. There were others but the images seemed to revolve around them mostly. Death could hear and could see all of this.

"Gotta...get...to...them."

It was futile and Death did not admire the boy for his attempts.

"It will be easier if you give in," he whispered, calming, reassuring words which were meant to coax the boy into accepting his fate.

The boy must have heard him as he answered back, his voice still weak but with a determination, "No, I have to... have to...get home. I promised...she made...me promise her."

"You are a fool for trying," hissed Death, growing irritable. Death was patient but there was the seed of doubt that perhaps this boy would be able to fight back, would be able to overcome what should surely have already occurred. He should not have been able to survive for this long but he had.

He was going to prove him wrong and for each weak crawl the boy made to the outside of the tree, climbing painstakingly over vines, over whatever was preventing him from making his way out, Death felt his power to take his soul grow weaker. Beginning to hum the song again, the boy was still a long way from exiting the tree but his resolve was making his soul grow stronger again, cancelling out his injuries.

Death had seen a lot, had faced a lot, but never once had he met someone with a stronger will to live than this boy, who continued to mumble things in between the song.

"Baku...Blank..Cinna...Marcus...Ruby-"

Names, he was calling out to those who made him stronger.

"Amarant...Freya...Quina...Steiner...Eiko...Vivi...Dagger."

Again, there were flashes of faces, the tune of this song.

"Dagger...I'll sing our...our song."

Death could no longer do anything. This boy had achieved something here, he had overcome his overwhelming injuries in order to live for something, for these people. One day he would die; he would greet Death again but that day would not be for a very long time.

There was the undeniable truth that his day of dying would not be today. Although he would not be around to witness it Death knew, just knew, that this boy would make it out of the tree, would crawl with a never faltering purpose. There would be times when he would come close to the brink yet again but Death would not return those times for he knew that nothing would come of it because this boy would never submit to him, when he had much to live for.

Death took one last look to the boy, who before he thought foolish and now slightly admired, with a sort of annoyed, irritated pride that he despised.

Death's duty was to take those who passed on, to ensure that the living continued to live. However, without this boy, without his soul, many would cease to live, these people he was calling out to and remembering. That was something that was not allowed to happen.

Death had finally found the one person who would fight him; until he was absolutely sure he could die and Death would await that day with a fresh excitement.

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><p><strong>I so didn't know how to end this so the ending does suck a little. Very sorry for that.<strong>

**Inspiration for this was the question, 'How the hell did Zidane survive? That vine _crushed _him and Kuja,' and also doing something from a slightly different perspective. **

**It also came from the fact I just beat Final Fantasy IX for the first time ever yesterday (the furthest I had got before was Ipsen's Castle) in just over a week and I was so proud of myself. Got really lucky that Zidane and Dagger/Garnet both went into Trance and I had Grand Lethal and Bahamut to be honest.**

**So, my ramblings about beating the game aside, please, if you had an opinion on this, review! First FFIX fic! :)**

**WickedSong x**


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